The present invention relates, in general, to the field of electric switches.
Nothing in the following discussion of the state of the art is to be construed as an admission of prior art.
European Patent Publication No. EP 1 054 421 discloses a switch which has a toggle joint system for connecting a handle with a contact bridge, whereby the joint of the toggle joint system is guided in a slot and is acted upon by a spring. The slot has a substantially triangular configuration for passage of the joint and is thus relative complicated in structure in order to attain a closing speed of the contact bridge in substantial independent relationship to the speed of operation of the handle. The closing speed of the contact bridge is hereby relatively small and the buildup of a sufficient contact pressure during closing of the contacts is relatively slow. This slow buildup of contact pressure poses a problem, when greater currents and higher inductive loads are involved, because switches of this type have then a tendency to fuse the contacts, resulting eventually in a destruction of the switch.
It would therefore be desirable and advantageous to provide an improved switch which obviates prior art shortcomings and which is suitable for use in switching of greater currents, without experiencing a risk of contact fusing, in particular during switching of highly inductive loads, such as, e.g., motors, while being simple in structure.